Laundry machine



. INVENTOR. Solon J Bouyhzon Mm QVM Jan 15 1924.

S. J. BOUGHTON LAUNDRY MACHINE Filed 001',- 21. 1920 A TTORNEY Im rovements in Laundr Patented Jan. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFF1cE.

SOLON I. BOUGHTON, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH COB- POBATION, O F TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

mummy meme.

-Appl1eat1on fled October 21, 1920. Serial No. 418,571.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLON J. BOUGHTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Machines, of which I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to combination rinsing and wringing machines and has for its general object to provide a centrifu a1 wringer in which clothes may be wrung ry without any injury whatever to the clothes, such as breaking and tearing off of buttons, such injury being unavoidable with the roller t pe of wringers now on the market.

Another object is to provide a machine in which the clothes may be rinsed in hot, cold, or blue water in whatever rotation desired by pumping the water into and out of the machine by a power pump, and in which the clothes may be wrung after each rinsing all without removing the clothes from the container.

Other objects are as follows: to provide automatic means for reversing the direction of rotation of the pump to pump water into or out of the machine at the proper times; to provide simple means for rotating the container and simultaneously releasing its brakes when drivin connection is made; to provide a driving clutch which allows slipping to permit gradual speeding up of the container.

Other objects and those relating to economies of manufacture and efficiency will appear as I proceed with that particular embodiment of the invention which for the purposes of illustration I have shown in the appended drawings, in which,

Figure I is a vertical section through the center line of the machine but showing] I eing tain parts in elevation, the clothes cage in wringing position.

Figure H is a view similar to Figure I but showing the cage stationary and the water being pumped out.

Figure I I is a section showing the operating mechanism when the pump isstill and the drain closed.

Figure IV is a similar view showing the mechanism when the water is being pumped Fi V is a detail of the means for connecting e shaft to the clothes container.

positive drive is t Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views. 1 represents the outer casing which has a conical bottom 2 provided at its Uwe'st pointwith a pipe 3used for draining and filling. Adapted to be supported upon the vertical-shaft 5 within the casing 1 is the clothes cage 4 which is constructed of some pervlous material such as perforated sheet metal, wire net-work, etc. The cage 4 is provided with a brake ring 6 upon its conical bottom which contacts with the stationary bottom 2 when the cage is lowered and thus prevents further rotation. At..its center, the cage is provided with an u standing dome 7 provided at its top with ep'ending curved ribs 8 "which fit into radial groove- 1n the spherical top] 9 of the shaft 5. A

us provided and the tiltlng of the cage prevented. The shaft 5 is supported at its lower end by a step bearing 10 which is pivoted to and raised or lowered by a foot lever 11. Shaft 5 is guided by a vertical guide 12 in the stationary bottom 2. An electric motor 13 drives the shaft 5 through the friction discs 14 and 15, disc 15 being rigid rpon shaft 5 and therefore riding over the face of disc 14 as the shaft is raised or lowered. Rigid upon shaft 5- is the cam 16 which has the three surfaces 17, 18, 19. A reversible rotary pump 20 is arrangedto pump water either into or out of the casing 1 through the duct 3. The drive shaft 21 of the pump has an extension 22 to which is fixed the driving disc 23. (The disc 23 is held in contact with disc 15 b the spring 24 pressing against collar 25 xed to extension 22.) The shaft 21 with the disc 23 and pump rotor may be shifted to the right as'viewed in Figure III by means of the lever 26, pivoted at 27, engaging the loose collar 28 and compressing spring 29 which bears against the fixed collar 25. The lever 26 is forced to the right as above described by the cam follower 30 pivoted to lever 26 at 31 and which has a ball end engagin the cam 16. Now when shaft 5 is lowere the cam surface 17 engages the ball end of follower 30 thus swinging lever 26 to the right and carrying the entire shaft to the right by the yieldable connections through spring 29. The disc 23 is thus disengaged from disc 15 and the valve 32 of the pum is seated, all as shown in Figure III. WEmen the shaft 5 is still further lowered the ball end of cam follower 30 rides over the straight surface 18 and down the incline 19, thus allowing spring 24 to shift the shaft 21 again to the left position, unseat-ing valve 32 and allowing disc 23 to engage disc 14, as shown in Figure 1V. However, disc 15 now en ges 14 below its axis and thus causes 5 aft 21 to rotate in the opposite direction. With this direction of rotation the pump pumps water into the casing 1, while the opposite rotation pumps water out of the casin The. shaft 5 may be held in any one of four positions by the step bearing 10 resting on the stationary frame or by the lug 40 engaging any one of the three notches 41, 42, or 43 in the bar 44 which 1s operated by the release pedal 45 as clearly shown in the drawings.

The operation of the device is as follows: The parts being in the position shown in Figure IV the electric switch is turned to start the motor which rotates pump 20 in the proper direction to pump water into the casing 1. When the desired, amount of water has been pumped in the pedal lever 11 is depressed until lug 40 catches in the lowest notch 43. The disc 23 is thus disengaged from disc 15 and the valve 32 is seated to prevent the water from flowing back by gravity (see Figure III). The desired amount of articles to be rinsed may be put in the cage 4 while the pump is fi ling the casing 1 or after the pumping is stopped and the articles allowed to soak or be pounded or agitated in any manner desired for a few minutes. The foot lever 11 is now depressed until catch 40 engages the intermediate notch 42 (see Figure II). The pump now pumps the water from casing 1. When the water level has fallen below the cage 4, pedal 11 is again depressed until catch 40 engages the top notch 42 (see Figare I). The top 9 of shaft 5 now raises the clothes cage 4 so that the brake ring 6 is raised from the bottom 2 and the cage is rotated at high speed by the disc 15 being near the periphery of disc 14. The pump 20 is still being rotated in a direction to cause it to pump the water from the casing 1. When it is desired to stop the wringing operation the lug 40 is lowered to the second notch 42. (See Figure II.) Brake ring 6 now engages the bottom 2 and stops rotation of the cage, the shaft 5 being lowered to disengage the driving connection between 8 and 9. The pump may continue to pump out until lug 40 is lowered to notch 43. The clothes are now removed and another batch put in cage 4 and the cycle of operations repeated. However, if desired, the outlet pipe 50 of the pump may have a branched connection to various tanks of warm and cold water and bluing water, and by the proper operation of valves in the mauve branches the clothes may be rinsed in water from first one tank and then another in any rotation desired and without removing the clothes from the cage 4. The work of the various rinsing and wringing operations through which clothes are put can thus be greatly lessened by this machine.

While I have described in more or less detail one embodiment of my invention which has been illustrated in the drawing, I do not intend or desire to be limited thereto as it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the same is capable of various embodiments and changes of minor parts without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a laundry machine, in combina-' tion, a container, a shaft for supporting and driving said container, :1 power source, means for transmitting ower from said power source to said sha and means for moving said shaft for making driving connection to said container and placing said container in operative position and simultaneously and progressively increasing the speed of rotation of said shaft.

2. In a centrifugal machine, in combination, a stationary casing, a container rotatable within said casing, a pump, a power source, automatic means for causing the pump to pump fluid to said casing when the container is stationary and from said casing when the container is rotating.

3. In a centrifugal machine, in combination, a stationary casing, a container rotatable within said casing, a pump, a power source, automatic means for causing the pump to pump fluid to said casing when the container is stationary and from said casing when the container is rotating, and means for disconnecting said pump from the power source.

4. In a centrifugal machine, in combination a stationary casing, a container rotatable within said casing, a pump, a power source, and means for causing the pump to pump fluid to or from said casing at will when the container is stationary, but from said casing at all times when the container is connected to the power source.

5. In a laundry machine, a tub, a single inlet and exit connection therefor, and means controlled by a single lever for opening said. connection and pumping liquid into the tub, or for closing said connection and rendering said pumping means inoperative or for opening said connection and pumping liquid out of the tub.

6. In a centrifugal wringer, a tub, a clothes container therein having an upper operative position and a lower inoperative position, means for pumping liquid out of said tub, a control lever having three positions and means governed thereby for sustaining said container in operative position and pumping out liquid in one position of the lever, for permitting said container to rest in inoperative position and for pumping out liquid in a second position of said lever, and for leaving said container in inoperative position and stopping said pumping in a third position of the lever.

7. In a centrifugal wringer, a tub, a clothes container therein having an upper operative position and a lower inoperative position, means for pumping liquid into or out of said tub, a control lever having four positions, and means governed thereby for sustaining said container in operative position and pumping out liquid in one position of the lever, for permitting said container to rest in inoperative position and for pumping out liquid in a second position of said lever, and for leaving said container in inoperative position and stopping said pumping in a third position of the lever, and for pumping liquid into the tub in a fourth position of said lever.

8. In a centrifugal wringer, a tub having a drain, a clothes container therein having an upper operative position and a lower inoperative position, means for pumping liquid out of said tub, a control lever having three positions, and means governed thereby for sustaining said container in operative position, holding the drain open and pumping liquid in one position of the lever, for lowering said container to inoperative position, holding said drain open and pumping liquid in a second position of said lever and for closing the drain and stopping said pumping in a third position of the lever.

9. In a centrifugal wringer, a tub having a common'fluid inlet and exit opening, a valve therefor, a clothes container in said tub having an upper operative position and a lower lnoperative position, means for pumping liquid in either direction through said inlet and exit opening, a control lever having four positions, and means governed v thereby for sustaining said container in! operative position, holding said valve open and pumping liquid out of said tub in one position of the lever, for lowering said container to inoperative position, holding said valve open and pumping liquid out of said tub in a second position of'the lever, for closing said valve and stopping said pumping in a third position of the lever and for opening said valve and for pumpin liquid into the tub in a fourth position of t e lever.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

SOLON J. BOUGHTON. 

